Frieza's Fear

Meanwhile.

On the other side of Planet Namek.

After some time, Bulma finally managed to establish contact with Earth via her communicator. By routing the signal through her father, Briefs, she successfully connected with Goku, who was currently en route to Planet Namek.

Following a brief exchange, not only did Goku show no signs of fear, but he was actually eager to test his strength against the even more formidable opponents waiting on Planet Namek.

This situation left North Kai with a headache, yet he was helpless to stop him. In the end, he could only warn Goku to be careful and to leave immediately if he arrived on Planet Namek and found the enemy to be insurmountable.

After the connection was cut, Goku felt even more motivated.

"This is so exciting! Not only is Vegeta stronger than he was on Earth, but there's also the galactic tyrant Frieza and his subordinates! I have to train even harder and strive to fully adapt to a hundred times gravity before I reach Planet Namek! No! Adapting to a hundred times gravity is just the beginning!"

With that, his training officially intensified.

Goku could not have known that by the time he reached Planet Namek, the situation would be completely different from what he imagined.

And this journey of his was destined to deviate from the original story.

On Planet Namek.

After cutting the connection, Bulma, Krillin, and Son Gohan finally felt less terrified than they had moments ago.

Goku was on his way and undergoing specialized training; they believed his strength would increase significantly by the time he arrived on Planet Namek.

Even if they couldn't stand against Frieza's group, defeating Vegeta shouldn't be a problem.

Krillin and Son Gohan did not know that Vegeta's current strength was far beyond what it had been just a few hours ago.

"So, what should we do next? Or rather, should we take the initiative and try to find a Dragon Ball to hide?" Son Gohan asked for their opinions.

"That's a good idea. It will take Goku six days to arrive. If we have one of the Dragon Balls, we can stop Frieza from gathering them all to summon the Eternal Dragon and make a wish," Bulma agreed.

However, she wouldn't be the one doing the searching; after all, she was just an ordinary woman.

"What I'm worried about is, we have the Dragon Radar, but do Frieza's men? According to the display, they seem to have already found four Dragon Balls," Krillin said, more cautiously.

To put it bluntly, he was afraid. He worried that if the enemy also had a way to track the Dragon Balls, wouldn't them finding and hiding one be the equivalent of walking straight into a trap?

"They shouldn't have one. Otherwise, Vegeta wouldn't have asked us for the Dragon Radar," Son Gohan reasoned.

As the two were speaking, a massive, terrifying aura suddenly appeared within their sensing range, causing their expressions to change drastically.

"Gohan, suppress your energy immediately! It's those guys—they're coming this way!" Krillin shouted.

Fortunately, they had already stowed their spaceship and found a cave to shelter in, otherwise, they would have been easily spotted by the naked eye.

"Such... such a terrifying aura. It's the evil presence we sensed earlier." Son Gohan's body began to tremble.

He was still young, after all. Even after Piccolo's training and the trauma of Vegeta's invasion of Earth, he was still just a child.

After fully concealing their energy, the two hurried to the mouth of the cave, peering out from the shadows.

A long while later, a group of people streaked across the sky, flying toward a different direction, and the two finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief.

There was no doubt that this group was Frieza and his men.

Sensing Frieza's terrifying aura at such close range left both of them in a state of extreme, uncontrollable fear.

Now they understood why North Kai had told them to leave Planet Namek, and why someone like Vegeta had also suggested they flee.

This was simply not a terrifying existence they could face.

Compared to such an evil aura, even Vegeta's paled in comparison. If they hadn't felt it themselves, they would never have believed such an outrageous level of power could exist in this world.

"They've gone far away. Thank goodness, they weren't coming for us. That scared me to death," Bulma said, standing beside Krillin and Son Gohan.

Because she was an ordinary person, she couldn't truly grasp the depth of the fear Krillin and Son Gohan were feeling.

"I... maybe we should just leave. This is simply not... something we can contend with."

After a long while, Krillin finally spoke, his voice trembling.

Son Gohan stood to the side, gulping for air, his mouth twisted in a grimace.

"But Dad is already on his way. If we leave now..." Son Gohan was terrified, but he still managed to respond.

Both of their voices were shaking. Bulma blinked, then pulled out the Dragon Radar and pressed a button.

The screen showed Frieza and his group moving rapidly, carrying four Dragon Balls.

"Such speed! In the blink of an eye, they're already over a hundred kilometers away from us," Bulma exclaimed, covering her mouth.

After observing for a while longer, the four Dragon Balls on the radar stopped moving and converged with another one.

"Look, that group found the fifth Dragon Ball," Bulma cried out.

"How could they find them so quickly? Do they really have a detector similar to the Dragon Radar?" Son Gohan questioned.

"No! I think I've guessed how these guys are finding the Dragon Balls. Their current location must be the Namekian settlement I sensed earlier! They must be using a Scouter to lock onto the locations of the Namekians, so they don't have to search like looking for a needle in a haystack," Krillin explained seriously.

He tried sensing the energy in the other direction again and confirmed that along the straight line where Frieza's group had come from, there was no longer any energy signature left.

He remembered that several thousand kilometers in that direction, there had originally been many energy signatures.

Those vanished energy signatures must have belonged to the Namekians.

At this very moment, he didn't know where the courage came from, but Krillin felt a sudden urge to go and investigate.

At the very least, as long as he suppressed his energy, the scouters wouldn't be able to detect him.

On this side, the situation was unfolding exactly as it had in the original story.

On the other side, after finding an island with a pleasant environment, Vegeta landed to begin his meditative training.

Having increased his strength fifty-fold after unlocking his potential, he still needed to rely on meditation to fully stabilize this power, even though he could control it perfectly.

There was also the cultivation of his energy; with his increased strength came new insights that required time to break through.

As things stood, if he wanted to reach the level of a Super Saiyan, he had to remain sufficiently steady before finally making the attempt.